by Congratulations to Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer and HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, as they joined seven other TV series honored this morning as recipients of the 74th annual Peabody Awards.
The Peabodys were created by the National Association of Broadcasters in 1940 to serve as “the Pulitzer Prize of radio,” and have expanded over the years to include TV (1948), cable TV (1981), and into online productions in the 21st century. They’re administered through the University of Georgia and decided upon annually by a board of selected jurors.
Here are the citations for this year’s comedy winners:
Inside Amy Schumer — “Schumer’s wholesome, disarming “Brady Bunch” looks belie and enhance a comic intelligence that’s smart, distinctively female and amiably profane, whether she’s applying it to sketch comedy, stand-up, or person-on-the-street interviews.”
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver — “A most worthy addition to the news-as-comedy genre, Last Week Tonight doesn’t just satirize the previous week’s news, it engages in fresh, feisty investigative reports that “real” news programs would do well to emulate.”
Other Peabody winners in 2015 include rookie-season sensation Jane The Virgin from The CW, The Knick (Cinemax), The Americans and Fargo (FX), The Honorable Woman (BBC), Rectify (Sundance TV), and Black Mirror (Britain’s Channel 4).
The Peabodys will recognize all of the winners and hand out awards to them on May 31 at Cipriani New York in a ceremony presided over by Fred Armisen.
